Thoughts on Working for a Private, For-Profit Hospital Chain?

[TheSearch]

Hey guys,

I'm hoping to get some responses from people about their work experiences at hospital chains such as those owned by Universal Health Services (UHS) and/or Acadia Healthcare. I had never heard of such organizations until beginning the job search. I've been surprised to see just how many free standing mental health facilities these companies own.

From a superficial perspective, it seems the pros include:
-very nice looking facilities
-a large network that potentially allows you to transfer between hospitals
-relatively higher salaries than many jobs

cons seem to include:
-greater patient census per physician
-and thus longer work hours
-a pressure to maintain productivity which may impede upon patient care

Anybody have some insight?

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[Shikima]

Clause will likely include - produce or be fired.

 

[wolfvgang22]

When I interviewed with a UHS hospital the census was ridiculously high, and they had a non-compete clause I didn't like. When they told me I'd be covering inpatient on the weekends by myself with 80 patients, I said "no thanks".
The psychiatrists I know that work there seem to be workaholics, and they seem to like it. At the same time, they are independent contractors, not employees, and so they have some leverage to sometimes say "no, I'm not doing that." This is the whole reason they wanted to hire employed psychiatrists, in my opinion. I'd love to hear how it is at other UHS hospitals.

 

[Shikima]

When I interviewed with a UHS hospital the census was ridiculously high, and they had a non-compete clause I didn't like. When they told me I'd be covering inpatient on the weekends by myself with 80 patients, I said "no thanks".
The psychiatrists I know that work there seem to be workaholics, and they seem to like it. At the same time, they are independent contractors, not employees, and so they have some leverage to sometimes say "no, I'm not doing that." This is the whole reason they wanted to hire employed psychiatrists, in my opinion. I'd love to hear how it is at other UHS hospitals.

It's the same pretty much at all UHS hospitals. Your best bet, if you're going that route, is to be an independent contractor.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

A UHS place you don't want to work at --

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/comm...f-from-federal-funding-over-safety-issues.ece

It looks like they're closing. Yikes.

From glass door reviews, it sounds like they were perpetually short staffed for nurses.

 

[Trismegistus4]

I've interviewed at three HCA hospitals. The first one offered me the job, but I had a bad feeling about the place. The second one didn't offer me the job, and while I loved the location, I wasn't crazy about the feel of the place. The third one offered me the job and I had a decent feeling about it, but in the end I decided I just disliked the location too much and turned it down.

At all three, even the one I had a decent feeling about, there was definitely a "corporate" feel to the place. This is hard to describe, but if you've worked at a big corporation like I have, you know it when you see it. At #3, it was muted enough that I probably could have tolerated it. At #2, I'm lucky I didn't get the job, because I probably would have taken it just based on the location and then been unhappy. At #3, one of the administrators had some unflattering things to say about the UHS hospital across town--they're perpetually being audited by Medicare or something like that, and have been fined before. I'm sure he was telling me that as if to say "we're ethical, unlike them."

 

[JamesPhilly]

"-relatively higher salaries than many jobs"

But if you're an independent contractor that sounds like a lot of extras you'd have to take care of yourself. Healthcare, 401k, etc. That doesn't sound like a good deal to me

 

[bomerate]

I have experience with HCA and UHS. They are all big corporations and all they care for is productivity. HCA facilities are not too bad in terms of casseload compared to UHS but corporate structure can be a big issue.
HCA working towards employed physicians only. UHS working towards employed physicians too and doctors are workaholics with heavy caseloads, frequent night/weekend calls and the pay is not the greatest given work load. I know individual facilities of either HCA or UHS are run little different depending on the CEO. So you can find a manageable nitch but overall big corporations

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Why subject yourself to more demands, less flexibility, and a (potentially crappy) call schedule? If you want many, I'm guessing doing contract work + PP would do far better, you'll just need to have a good financial planner to assist with retirement and a solid tax attorney/accountant to review your books.